REPORT: Honey Bee Venom Kills Aggressive Breast Cancer Cells

A new report has been published on Science Daily that is getting a lot of attention. According to the report, “Using the venom from 312 honeybees and bumblebees in Perth Western Australia, Ireland and England, Dr Ciara Duffy from the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and The University of Western Australia, tested the effect of the venom on the clinical subtypes of breast cancer, including triple-negative breast cancer, which has limited treatment options.”

Would Be Incredible!

There are a wide range of honey bee products on the market today, ranging from lozenges to oils to lip balms. While also often hear reports about doctors and veterinarians using raw honey to treat small wounds. No report, however, has been as stunning as this report on honey bee venom.

The terminology in the report is very specific, so here are the words of Dr. Duffy explaining how all of this worked:

“No-one had previously compared the effects of honeybee venom or melittin across all of the different subtypes of breast cancer and normal cells.

"We tested honeybee venom on normal breast cells, and cells from the clinical subtypes of breast cancer: hormone receptor-positive, HER2-enriched, and triple-negative breast cancer.

"We tested a very small, positively charged peptide in honeybee venom called melittin, which we could reproduce synthetically, and found that the synthetic product mirrored the majority of the anti-cancer effects of honeybee venom."

She continued, "We found both honeybee venom and melittin significantly, selectively and rapidly reduced the viability of triple-negative breast cancer and HER2-enriched breast cancer cells.

"The venom was extremely potent.

"We found that melittin can completely destroy cancer cell membranes within 60 minutes.

"We looked at how honeybee venom and melittin affect the cancer signaling pathways, the chemical messages that are fundamental for cancer cell growth and reproduction, and we found that very quickly these signaling pathways were shut down.

"Melittin modulated the signaling in breast cancer cells by suppressing the activation of the receptor that is commonly overexpressed in triple-negative breast cancer, the epidermal growth factor receptor, and it suppressed the activation of HER2 which is over-expressed in HER2-enriched breast cancer.”

Western Australia's Chief Scientist Professor Peter Klinken added, "This is an incredibly exciting observation that melittin, a major component of honeybee venom, can suppress the growth of deadly breast cancer cells, particularly triple-negative breast cancer.

"Significantly, this study demonstrates how melittin interferes with signaling pathways within breast cancer cells to reduce cell replication. It provides another wonderful example of where compounds in nature can be used to treat human diseases.”

Pretty amazing stuff, wouldn’t you say?

You can read more about this incredible study on ScienceDaily.com.